Will Texas breeze power P&G, Fb and Google?

Campaigns of all sorts are in full swing at the state and national level but also internationally as the global climate talks in Paris get started. In advance of the climate talks, numerous private sector companies are lining up with a clean energy agenda. This has more to do with greenwashing their sustainability credentials than any meaningful effort to reduce carbon emissions.

As companies jump on the sustainability bandwagon, we noted that among them was Ohio-based Proctor and Gamble. Surely P&G would be pressed to partner with a wind developer operating in Ohio – but no! Read below and you will see that 1 wind site in Texas will cover all of their plants in Ohio, Missouri, Louisiana, Kansas and Canada where brands such as Tide, Gain, Downy, Dawn, Cascade, Febreze and Mr. Clean are produced. The article states that power generated from the partnership will equal avoiding more than 200,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually. But, is this an accurate statement? Of course not! We know that the low capacity factor for these industrial wind sites means that they will NOT produce the amount of energy that they advertise to the public! Additionally, that energy is not available to be used on-demand, as these companies require. In fact, there will be highly variable times of every day when little to no energy is ever produced. These companies are not being truthful with the American public. Their businesses can NOT operate with wind power only. Wind must always be ‘backed up’ with traditional energy producers—energy producers that this administration is demonizing.

What does the Texas publicity mean for Ohio wind developers like Everpower? Yesterday, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette indicates it could mean trouble. Everyone should read this important article that notes:

· Some blame stuttering government incentive programs or low-cost competing energy sources like natural gas for stalling new wind energy development in recent years, but Pennsylvania’s wind industry points to a third disruptive factor: It is hard to find a customer willing to sign up to buy a wind farm’s worth of power for a decade or more.

· Traditionally, utilities …were looking to secure power not subject to fluctuating fuel costs committed to buying wind energy for decades. In the current competitive market, buyers will only commit to a year or maybe three.

San Diego-based EDF Renewable Energy said Monday it will build a 123-megawatt wind farm north of Dallas to power Procter & Gamble’s plants that make its laundry, dish-washing and other cleaning products.

Procter & Gamble made the announcement of the Tyler Bluff Wind Project on Monday at the White House as part of the company signing the “American Business Act on Climate Pledge” to achieve 30 percent renewable energy power to its plants globally by 2020. Eighty other companies made similar pledges Monday….

The wind farm will produce enough electricity to power all of Procter & Gamble’s North American fabric and home care plants in Ohio, Missouri, Louisiana, Kansas and Canada where brands such as Tide, Gain, Downy, Dawn, Cascade, Febreze and Mr. Clean are produced. The power generated from the partnership will equal avoiding more than 200,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually.

“At P&G, when it comes to sustainability, actions speak louder than words and this move is a significant milestone in delivering that promise,” Shailesh Jejurikar, North America fabric care president of Procter & Gamble, said in a prepared statement. “It is incredible that the wind farm will generate enough electricity for all our P&G fabric and home care plants. To put that in context, this is enough electricity to wash a million loads of laundry.”…

If you visit Fairneny — and people are; people from Savoy, in particular, where a wind farm is being proposed — he will likely employ colorful language to explain to you why industrial wind turbines are a bad deal from the standpoint of noise, alleged health risks, and impact on the environment and property values. "We're screwed here," he say […]

WPD Canada has stated that the company’s board of directors have decided not to proceed with an appeal of that decision, and will not be moving ahead with what would have been an eight-turbine project.

The construction of a larger 30 megawatt capacity wind project in the same general area northwest of Kimball where a decommissioned wind project has existed in the past will triple the amount of power generated.